A Day at the Movies
by pupeez4eva
Summary: Wherein Bruce and Talia are overprotective parents, and Damian just wants to enjoy his date in peace. Damian/Colin, slight Bruce/Talia.


Bruce trusted his son.

Of course he did. Damian wouldn't be Robin if he didn't. And he knew Damian could take care of himself. Again — he wouldn't be Robin if he didn't.

But…there was a difference between crime fighting and dating. A _huge_ difference. So, when Damian announced that he was going to the cinemas with Colin that day (he didn't say it was a date, but it didn't take a genius to figure that one out), Bruce had nonchalantly nodded, and that was that. No suspicious line of questioning, no warnings to be back by a certain time, no dreaded Talk ( _not_ that Damian needed it of course; he and Colin weren't doing anything like that. Anytime soon. _Ever_ ).

Bruce trusted his son, and while this may have been a little out of his comfort zone (although you'd think after three sons and one daughter, he'd be used to this), he knew Damian would do the right thing.

The _only_ reason he was here now, skulking in the back of the cinema, and trying to find a seat with a better vantage point (they'd seated him at the back of the cinema, because the place was packed), was because…

…Well, okay, he really didn't want to see this movie. Bruce didn't know _what_ Damian was doing watching Bridget Jones' Baby, but he decided it must have been Colin's idea.

So yes, maybe he wanted to check on his son. But that did not mean he was an overbearing, overly-protective parent, no matter what Dick said. It was just going to be a quick look, to make sure everything was going well, and that Colin was treating his son with respect. Then, he'd be gone.

Perfectly normal behaviour.

Bruce spotted an empty seat and walked over, ignoring the irritated frowns he was receiving. He squeezed through the isles, and sat down. He shifted in his seat, and peered forward. Yes, this seat was much better — he could clearly see Colin and Damian, sitting shoulder to shoulder, and looking perfectly innocent. Good. See, that was all he'd wanted to know. And now he could go.

…Soon. He'd paid for a ticket, he might as well watch at least the first quarter of the movie.

And that's what he was doing. He was _watching_ _the_ _movie_. And fine, he might have peered up a little bit, just to get a better look at Damian, and make sure that Colin wasn't doing anything…inappropriate (he knew how kids acted in these cinemas, and he'd be damned if he'd allow Colin to try anything with Damian. Not that it made him an overprotective parent; it just meant that he wasn't naive).

He frowned and sat back down, ignoring the irritated hisses from behind him. The seat was fine, but he'd gain a clearer view if he perhaps shifted down one…

"Excuse me," he murmured, turning to the person next to him, "would you mind switching seats with me?"

He then let out an odd choking noise.

 _"Talia?!"_

Talia turned to him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Beloved."

"What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

Talia snorted, and she nodded towards the screen. "Watching this wretched movie of course."

"You're here…watching Bridget Jones' Baby."

"Yes."

"In _Gotham."_

Talia's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"What are you _really_ doing here?" Because it didn't take a genius to figure out how much of her story was true. _Talia_ , watching a romantic comedy? Hell would sooner freeze over.

Talia's eyes narrowed further, but the defensive expression shifted slightly. "If you must know, I'm watching our son. I've heard of his recent attachment to that redheaded boy, and I want to determine whether he is a good partner for Damian."

"He's not a 'partner.' They're just friends."

Even though he knew that was utter bullshit. He wasn't going to admit that to Talia though.

Talia snorted. "If you truly believed that, you wouldn't be here."

Bruce opened his mouth to argue (even though she did have a point, not that he'd ever admit that to himself), but his attention was diverted as Damian shifted closer Colin. Bruce's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Talia doing the same.

"They're sitting awfully close together," she murmured. She then reached down, and grabbed something. It took Bruce a moment to realise that she was holding a pair of binoculars.

He stared.

Talia glanced at him, and frowned slightly. "I need to be sure of that boy's intentions."

She turned away, and lifted the binoculars. A few people shot her confused glances, but no one said anything. Bruce doubted Talia would have cared either way. Still though, he wasn't exactly pleased with the idea of her drawing attention to them. He didn't care about what other people thought — Bruce Wayne was enough of a spectacle as it was — but the last thing he wanted was for Damian to see them.

He opened his mouth, prepared to tell Talia to put the binoculars away, when he was distracted by something else.

" _What_ is he doing?!" Talia demanded.

Bruce grimaced. "Please tell me he's not about to put his arm around Colin's shoulders."

"What?!" Talia glared at him. "Of course not! What a poor, distasteful move. My son has far more class than that!"

Something hit the back of her head, and fell to the floor. It took Bruce a moment to realise that someone had thrown _popcorn_ at Talia.

"Lady, would you please keep it down?!"

Talia whirled around, her eyes flashing dangerously. " _Lady?!_ I'll have you know — "

Bruce wrapped an arm around Talia's shoulders, and whirled her around. With his best air-headed-billionaire smile, he laughed, and said, "sorry about that."

Talia glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to shut you up," Bruce said, keeping his voice low. "Do you _want_ him to hear us?"

Talia's jaw clenched, but she nodded, slowly and reluctantly. Bruce relaxed.

Talia's eyes flicked to Bruce's arm, still resting cross her shoulders, and she snorted. "I see where he learnt _that_ pathetic move from."

Bruce quickly removed his arm, as if he'd been burned.

Talia relaxed back into her seat, staring blankly at the screen. Bruce settled back in his seat, and mirrored this action. About five minutes passed, before she turned back to Bruce. "Give me the binoculars."

Bruce — who had been in the process of staring at Colin and Damian through the binoculars. They were _very_ effective — glanced at her. "What?"

"The binoculars," Talia repeated. "Give them to me."

"What the hell are they doing?" someone demanded — Bruce was almost certain that it was the popcorn-thrower from earlier. "That's seriously creepy!"

Talia whirled around, and Bruce inwardly winced. This was not going to go well.

"Creepy?" she repeated, her voice taking on a dangerous tone. "And what exactly is _creepy_ about a mother watching out for her son?"

"Can you please be quiet?" another person asked, and Bruce could see that they were drawing a lot of attention. "I'm trying to watch."

"Yeah, lady, shut the hell up!"

Talia's eyes narrowed. "Call me _lady_ one more time, and I will show you the wrath of the League of Assassins — "

"Is that supposed to be a movie reference?!"

Bruce groaned, and rubbed his forehead. This wasn't going the way he'd planned. Bruce wondered if maybe he should make a quick exit after all. At the rate this was going, it was only a matter of time before…

…Oh. This was bad.

Most of the cinema had turned towards them, drawn by the sound of the argument, and Colin and Damian were no exception.

And that meant his son had seen them.

"Mother? Father?" Damian sounded incredulous.

"These are _your_ parents?!" a woman called out. _"Please_ shut them up."

Bruce stared stoically at the screen. Perhaps Damian would believe him if he simply said he was enjoying the movie. Talia could figure out her own excuse.

(Although he could see Colin eyeing him nervously, at that wasn't exactly an unwelcome development. He could definitely work with that).

 **...**

 **AN:**

 **So I started writing this AGES ago (basically around the time Bridget Jones' Baby was in the cinemas, which is why I randomly picked that movie haha), completely forgot about it, and then stumbled across it on my laptop a few days ago, and decided to finish it. Hopefully it didn't turn out completely horrible :D**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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